Manteca voters south of Yosemite Avenue could elect a new member of the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors if one of three hopefuls garners 50 percent plus of the ballots.

If not, the two leading vote getters will face each other in a November run-off.

The district includes Tracy and Mountain House in addition to South Manteca.

All three candidates are from Tracy. They are farmer and businessman Tom Benigno, educator and Tracy Planning Commission member Rhodesia Ransom, and retired colonel and Tracy Councilman Bob Elliott.

In perhaps the biggest split on the issues Benigno favors building a conveyance around the Delta as he believes it will provide solid employment in the county for over 10 years to build it while both Ransom and Elliott oppose it, believing it would severely hurt farming and the county’s economy.

Benigno

A farmer for more than five decades at points throughout the Central Valley, Benigno believes he can understand the needs of the agricultural community without sacrificing growth opportunities.

He believes that the controversial version of the peripheral canal being advanced to divert water from the Sacramento River around the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and into pumping stations and aqueducts destined for points south – would help bring upwards of $10 billion and 10,000 jobs to the Central Valley. The move, Benigno said, would also drain the salt intrusion in the Delta.

Elliott

Elliott is a retired United States Army Colonel and Special Forces soldier with 30 years of military experience, Elliott – who was deployed on diplomatic assignments during his Army tenure to United States embassies in Tokyo and Seoul – got his education at West Point and has had a successful career in nuclear energy with both General Electric and his current employer, Westinghouse.

Elliott laid out three main focal points of his campaign – public safety, economic development, and the preservation of agricultural land and rights for farmers, ranchers and growers in San Joaquin County – and hit on several ways that he plans on instituting each of those if elected.

First and foremost on his list is public safety.

Ransom

Foreclosures, high unemployment, and diminished tax receipts weigh heavily on many people’s minds but not on Ransom who says the choice is clear - either we can keep crying about it or do something about it.

Ransom is emphasizing her desire - and ability - to problem solve as the backbone of her strategy for help in governing the county. She believes her background running a non-profit has helped her search for innovative ways to “do more with less” while she training and volunteer effort as a family mediator with the San Joaquin County Mediation Center will enable her to bring opposing sides together to find workable solutions for the county’s challenges.